I don't know much about the drama, but I think it's absolutely stupid to try to block OP_RETURNs when the alternative (data encoded in unspendable fake pubkeys) is much worse. Also there is no practical difference between a transaction from a person you don't like and a bunch of arbitrary data.

The blockchain has always been a necessary evil, a bad thing that we have to tolerate, it was never a sacred beautiful place that only now is being tarnished.